Thursday, April 10, 2008

give yourself away.


its catching on:
my co-worker who got friends and family to raise $300 for the austistic children we work with. 
the girls i went to visit today who are painting a mural in downtown auburn to involve the whole city in a project together, combining all ages. 
the people who volunteer at the hospice that i visited last week. 
my friend who is spending the next 3 years in china. 
the friend who told me today that she and her fiance want to go to service and mission work in 
other countries for their honeymoon instead of getting gifts for their home because she says, "i dont need anything, not one more thing."
my friend who seeks out the homeless because she loves them so much.
my roommate who wants to spend her vacation doing aids outreach. 
could anything else be more contagious ? im continually convinced that we come more alive 
when we live for others lives instead of our own. when we exist for their well being. when we are committed to the hurting, the poor, the dying the sick. when we give away what we have because we dont need it and someone else does. when we give up our plans in order to make anothers dreams possible. 
no wonder Jesus gave his life for us. that, He says, is how we will gain it. 
.:Matt. 16:25-26:.

lyrics from one of my favorite songs right now say :

If you choose to love, 
To know that the call 
Is to give all you are
To give love away...
Rise, Rise, people of love rise
People of love rise, 
Give yourself away. 

This picture is from a friend who did this last week. 
He went in to eat at the restaurant where one of my roommates was working, 
and he left this on the table with a twenty dollar bill. He will probably kill 
me when he finds out i put this on here, but i had to because its a perfect example of what this 
post is all about. 

i hope this encourages you to look for ways that you can bless others, 
it doesn't have to be big, a little goes a long way, especially if it is motivated by love. 




more on love.

well. you would think that i would be done with this subject, but im not. 
yesterday was one of my best friends birthdays, and what did her boyfriend do ?
he drove three+ hours from his college campus to visit her at work. there is nothing more 
comforting than knowing your friends are loved and cherished and treated right. 
there are some boys im around that raise my standards, and some that lower them. 
im thankful for the ones that raise my standards, and i pray that the ones that lower them 
will know what it is to know what it is to love a woman as Christ loves the church, and treat 
her as such. He cherishes us, and serves us, all because of love, and i love nothing more than 
to see a guy try to accurately portray that: even though we are fallen. He has redeemed us. 
He is who gives us the ability to love outside of ourselves. I can only hope and pray that more each day am i loving and living outside of myself.